Pick and like handles



M. J. ANTEL Jan. 6, 1948.

PICK AND LIKE HANDLES Filed Feb, 18, 1944 Patented Jan. 6, 1948 PICK-ANDLIKE IHANDLES *Montague John Antel, Johannesburg, Transvaal,

'Union'bf South'Africa ,.-Application February 18,194.4,?Serial-No;522,971 In the Union or South Africa J une-2,3,v 1941 1A'pick tool comprises a metal pick'head and a "-wooden'handle secured inthe eye of the head. The eye and the outerendof the handle, that is theportion of the handle that engages with the eye; 'areflared'outwardly.Usually also the cross section of the flared-portion of Lthe'handIe andthe eye is elliptical; with its majoraxis lying in thedire'ction 'of'the leng'th of thepick head.

i This invention which 'is' a continuation in part orapplication-440,734, filed April 27; 1942, relates 1 to wood handles forpicks, hoesandother tools, -'which' are outwardly flared-as=describedabove and the flared end of which is fitted with a" metal -ferr1-11e sothat the eye engages with sa'id ferrule andnot directly "with the wood"of the handle;

said ferrule being itself outwardly-flaredboth internally andexternally. It is essentialfor the successfuI use of the pick' -thatsuchferrule shall rem'ain- 'rigidlyfixed to the wood handle.

The invention-is"illustratedin the accompanyi-ng drawings'"intvhich:

Z Figur I-is av perspective View showing the end -portions ofa pickhandle,- 1 and a 'pick head.

Figures: IIandIII are respectively anelevation and: an end view of=the;-ferrule-b1ahl f for the head leend'of thehandle.

EFigure IV.'shows diesishaping-the ferrule.

Figure V is a perspective View of a prospectors gad-constructedaccording to the invention.

Figure VI shows the -corresponding ferrule blank.

; lnuthezdrawingsa 2 indicates. a: pick .head' with the usual eye 3 forreceivingflther'handle. Said eye is roughly .elliptical .in itscross-sections and flares in thedirection from its inner end 4 to itsouter end 5. v I

516. indicates the-wooden handle having-an outer :end.portion31...on..whichthe ferrule 8 isnfirmly ;mount.ed.' The ferrule.is. shaped externallyto en- :gage. in "the eye 3 and ls-accordinglyof=muchthe same..elliptical .cross sectional and lengthwise :fiaringform as...the.eye. -TIIhe-ferrule wall' being of much the same-thicknessthroughout; the handle end portion' 7 also has approximately thesamefelliptical and flaring-form as the eye3- and .:as*the-eX ter-nalsurface of theferr'ule.

Inzso-me pick- -handles having this elliptical cross section the flareis present principally in the plane including the long axis of theellipse, and in others principally in the plane at right angles thereto,that is the plane including the short axis.

The end 7 shown is of the last mentioned form, r

the short diameter 9 at the extremity being greater than the shortdiameter H! at the base of the flare; but the end being materially ofuniform width across its long diameter I l.

The flare extends outwardly from a waist l2;

said waist being constituted by the cross section of the wood at thebase of the flare being diametrically smaller than both said flared endand theportionfilfi oflthe wooden handle which'lies 'on the other sideof the waist from'the flare. In somejpickhandles said handleportionl3.fiares away from the waist; and sometimes the crosssectional forms of'theflared end and of said han- -ferruleseats. -'Also, inthe exampleshownfthe waist is both diametrally and" circumferenti'ally ess thanthe-fiared'end l and thehandle portion 13. The-close "fitting" of, theferrule 8 onthe -fiared-wood-end l, withits smaller end lfi'seatedinsaidwaist l2, accordingly locksthe ferrule positively againstendwisemovementon the handle ineither direction.

In present practice the manufacture'bffthe ferrule- 8-in its flaringshape is completedgbefore it isassembled-with the woodhandle. Also-theouter-end-portion l of the handle is not originally fiaredjbut is madeof such shape and'size that thepre-formed ferrule can be passed over'it,-in the direction indicated-by the arrow A'until'the sma-ller-endlli of the ferrule engages the waist -12. The flaringof' the outer endportion "of the handle on one :or both the axes of the ellipse; "to'lo'ckflthe ferrule-in such'position; is then-effected by driving awedge or wedges into a slit previously cut in from- 'theouter--end=cfthe handle. The weakness of this construction liesint-he wedge,-Which-is-apt to loosen and so cause loosening of the ferrule.

I It is theobjectof "the inventionteavoid such loosening of the ferrule.According to the, invention the handle or at least the head endthere-'of-is'-provided;-before its assembly with theferrulepin its finalform'comprising the'flaringend I, the'enlarged portion '13 and the waistl2 between' them; said end 1 being of'solid wood. *fTheferruleis-provided; prior to the assembly, as-a ferrule blank ll, FiguresII andIII; which is tubular in-the' sense that it has circumferentialcontinuity, though not necessarily at all cross sections. The blank isof such diametral dimensions as to pass easily over the pre-formedflared end 1 and to its final position in Which it surrounds said end 1and said waist l2. positioned its shape is changedto conform to that ofthe flared end and the waist and so that it fits said parts.

In practice it is convenient to use circular tube stock, preferablysolid drawn tube. A piece of this is cut to the intended length of theferrule,

: and is pressed in parallel dies to make its cross sectional formthroughout of the ellipticalcross- When so sectional form and size ofthe extremity l8 of the handle; the diametral dimensions of the circulartube having been chosen suitably for that purpose. The resultingparallel, elliptical-sectioned, and tubular blank I'l-sh0wn in FiguresII and III -is then assembled with the wood handle.

The conformation of the parallel blank I! to the wood handle comprisesthe reduction of diametral dimensions of the blank in progressivelyincreasing degree in the direction from its outer end to its inner end;and usually it consists specifically in similarly progressively reducingthe circumferential dimensions of the blank.

One method of effecting such circumferential diminution is by pinchingup the superfluous circumferential extent into folds 19, the length l ofwhich extends lengthwise of the blank and th depth d of which variesprogressively along the length in order to absorb the increasing amountof superfluous ferrule wall material corresponding to th decrease ofcircumferential extent of the flared end 1 towards the waist l2.

In order that these folds may be produced without interfering with thegeneral smoothness of the external surface 20 of the ferrule on whichthe internal surface 2! of the eye 3 bears when the handle and pick headare assembled, th folds are formed at the extremities of the longdimensions of the ferrule. It is customary to shape.

the eye of the pick so that its ends in the direction of the length ofthe pick provide clearance spaces 22 which are not occupied by theordinary ferrule, and in which the aforesaid end folds can beaccommodated without affecting th regular wedging seating of the eye onthe ferrule. In other cases the eye is specially shaped to receive thefolds I9.

The shaping of the ferrule blank to the flaring end of the handle andthe formation of the folds may be effected by means of dies 23, FigureIV. Said dies are formed with end clearance spaces 24 which give spacefor the folds l9 and terminate at somewhat sharp edges 25 which biteinto the blank metal as the dies close together. and so have the effectof tensioning the ferrule well metal around the side faces of theflaring end.

Another method of contracting the circumferential dimensions of thetubular blank is by the formation in the tubular blank of gapping thatremoves some of the metal; and the circumferential closing together ofthe edges of the gapping in the step of shaping the ferrule to theflaring wood end. In the example shown in Figures V and VI, the eye ofthe head of the prospectors gad differs from that of a pickaxe in beingof smoothly curve-d form in transverse section. The tubular blank 25 isprovided with gapping consisting of longitudinal slots 2'! extendingfrom the inner end 28 of the ferrule but terminating short of its outerend 29. The slots widen towards the inner end of the ferrule so that theamount of ferrule material left between the median lines of the gapdiminishes in that direction. The thus pre-formed blank is passed ontothe flaring end of the handle and the ferrule is pressed by dies toconform its shape to that of said flaring end; such shaping bringing theopposite edges 39 of the slots closer to one another. To retain againstseparation the portions of the inner end of the ferrule that areseparated by the slots, they are secured to the head by the rivet 3!which passes through both portions and the head.

A pick handle is commonly provided with a ferrule 32 at its inner orlower end in order to protect such end against being split or mushroomedwhen it is struck on th ground for the purpose of loosening the pickhead. According to the invention said ferrule 32 is fixed in the sameway as the head ferrule 8, viz. by flaring the wood end 33 from ashoulder 34, passing onto it a parallel tubular ferrule blank andconforming said blank to the flared end, as described above. As theferrule 32 is much shorter than the head ferrule B and the gain ofdiameter of the flare is correspondingly smaller it is preferred tosecure the ferrule 32 additionally as by splitting the upper rim of theferrule 32 at 35 and driving the tongues 33 so formed into the wood ofthe handle.

' The ferrule 32 may be also additionally secured by a rivet 31.

It will be noted that no expansion of the handle end is required, andconsequently there is no Wedge to loosen.

I claim:

A wood tool handle having a solid and outwardly flared end extendingfrom a waist and a similarly flared tubular ferrule fitting on saidflared end and said waist; the cross-section of the flared end and ofthe ferrule being basically elliptical; the ferrule comprisinglongitudinally extending folds formed in its wall, said folds being atthe ends of the long axis of the elliptical formation and being ofprogressively varying depth in the direction of the length of thehandle.

MONTAGUE JOHN AN TEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 379,439 Bell Mar. 13, 18881,914,802 Cochrane June 20, 1933 2,132,555 Baxter Oct. 11, 19381,339,638 Velchansky et al. May 11, 1920 2,160,258 Berliner May 30, 19392,211,147 Miller Aug. 13, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 867Great Britain Jan. 15, 1894 34,987 Germany Apr. 10, 1886

